With You, Always
by WhiteRose123
Summary: Lucy would do anything to save her friends, even if it meant risking her life against E.N.D. However, things are not always as they seem. NaLu, oneshot. Spoilers from the manga up to the Tartaros arc.


Summary:  Lucy would do anything to save her friends, even if it meant risking her life against E.N.D. However, things are not always as they seem. NaLu, oneshot. Spoilers from the manga up to the Tartaros arc.

A/N: It's been awhile since I've written something that has a darker tone. My stories lately, especially my NaLu ones, have been all fluff and funny stuff. Gotta change it up every once and awhile right? Feel free to check out some of my other NaLu stories if you want to read something happy. Anyways, this story is based off of the picture used as the cover art. I have no idea who the original artist is, as it has been reposted and redrawn so many times, or else I would credit them. It's still one of my favorite E.N.D. Natsu fanarts, and I've been wanting to write an E.N.D. NaLu story ever since I finished the Tartaros chapter in the manga. Of course, everything that occurs in this story is made up, as I have no idea what will really happen with the whole Natsu E.N.D. thing. Slightly AU in the fact that in this story, Fairy Tail never broke up after the Tartaros arc, but it still takes place roughly a year after that arc occurred.

Warnings: Well, I suppose it's on the darker side and has violence (and death), so M just to be safe. Also, manga spoilers.

* * *

 **With You, Always**

Hell. The whole world had gone to Hell.

How could this have happened? How could we not have foreseen it? Just this morning, everything was as it always was. I had woken up to Natsu and Happy in my living room waiting to invite me on job, and had given them the usual scolding of not respecting my boundaries. But, like normal, I had agreed to go with them on the job anyways. As much as I hated Natsu's blatant disrespect of my personal space, I could never say no to that cheerful grin of his.

Oh what I wouldn't give to go back to those times, to see his smile again…

Tartaros had returned in full force. And this time, they attacked us right at our home base in Magnolia. We never saw it coming, we were sitting in the guild hall eating breakfast one moment, and the very next we heard sounds of screaming and explosions. We were like sitting ducks for them, and the citizens of Magnolia had paid the worst price of all.

The stand in leader of Tartaros, Mard Geer had made a beeline right for the guild hall and blew down the doors. Everyone, including myself, was surprised to see him again. After all, we thought we had beaten Tartaros. We had defeated the majority of the demons that were a part of it, destroyed their resurrection chambers, and even watched the Dark Wizard Zeref banish Mard Geer, his own creation, back into his book. So why were they here again, now?

But Mard Geer didn't attack us, not right away at least. No, instead he made a request. He requested that Natsu go with them, and that if he did, he would leave the town, and guild, alone. We could have never guessed at the time why they wanted Natsu, but the reason why didn't matter to us. Fairy Tail never lets go of one of their own, not for anyone, or anything.

So, we fought. We fought to defend our teammate, our guild, our town.

We never could have guessed how fruitless our efforts could have been. We had all gotten stronger during our last encounter with Tartaros, but, so did they. They overwhelmed us. The demons destroyed our guild hall and began laying waste to the town, killing any citizens they came across.

And what's worse, like moths to a flame, it wasn't long before the destruction had attracted the black dragon Acnologia, just like it had last time we had fought Tartaros. His appearance quickly turned the fray into a three way battle, with Tartaros, Fairy Tail, and Acnologia all battling fruitlessly with each other. The power of Acnologia was so overwhelming that both guilds had turned their attention towards defeating the black dragon, ignoring each other for the time being. But even then, their efforts were in vain. It wasn't long before the town had become a burning wasteland, a mere shadow of its former self.

I was not in the battle. I was given the job of protecting Natsu, more from himself than anything. Natsu was my partner, my best friend, I knew him like the back of my hand and I knew just how hard it was for him to watch his friends and guildmates fight without being able to help them. But I also knew in the back of my mind that whatever Tartaros wanted Natsu for, the outcome of it would have been far worse than what was happening now.

But even that job, I had failed at. And everyone had paid the price because of me.

Happy and I were trying our very best to keep a furious Natsu calm when it happened. He wanted so badly to join the fight, even to give himself up if it could save his friends. But he couldn't do that, not with the risks of what could happen if he did. However, the fight ended up finding us. In our hiding spot in the basement under the destroyed guild hall, we were found by Tartaros.

It was only two of them, Mard Geer and the beast-like Jackal, and they had brought the fight to us. We battled against them with all of our might, but like how we had gotten stronger, they had as well. It wasn't long before I had exhausted the majority of my magic power, and the demonic Jackal took advantage of that.

Natsu was still in fighting spirits against Mard Geer, but he was stopped in his tracks with a single threat. The lives of his two partners. Mard Geer then began to talk to him, telling him things that I never would have believed had I not seen it with my own eyes. He told him that he was the actual master of Tartaros, the feared and powerful demon E.N.D, calling him "Etherious Natsu Dragneel". The strongest of the etherious demons from Zeref's book. He said that he could help Natsu become 'what he truly was meant to be' if he allowed them to revive E.N.D. from inside of him.

Natsu denied it fervently, aggressively stating that he could never be a demon and attempted to take advantage of Mard Geer's distracted state by attacking Jackal as he held myself and Happy hostage. However, the attack was easily dodged by the furred demon and before any of us could react, the hand he was holding a struggling Happy with exploded.

I felt as though the world around me had frozen in that instant, I had barely even processed the blood spattered pieces of blue fur that had stuck to my face as tears instinctively welled up in my eyes. The sounds of Jackal's maniacal laughter and Natsu's horrified screams were mere background noise. I was in shock.

I was only brought back to reality when I felt the intensity of magic power in the vicinity increase tenfold as Natsu welled up with energy, his body brightly aflame and brimming with anger. However, before he could release any of that power, I felt the coarsely furred hand of Jackal wrap around my throat, shiningly threateningly. I finally comprehended what had happened, and I broke down.

I had vaguely heard Mard Geer threaten Natsu with my life, claiming that the same thing that happened to Happy would happen to me if he didn't surrender to them. I had shouted at him, screamed at him not to do it. My life didn't matter, I would have rather died than seen what happened to him occur. I would have died for Natsu.

But he did, he gave up… the moment he saw the precarious situation I was in, he had paused to analyze it for a moment before extinguishing the flames around his body and falling to his knees, harshly cursing as tears began to fall from his eyes. He had told them that he would do whatever they asked if they spared my life…

I had failed him. I was supposed to keep him safe and I had failed, and again, it ended up being him defending me.

I was forced to watch, with Jackal roughly holding me by my hair as Mard Geer opened up a book I had recognized as Zeref's book, the book of E.N.D., and began chanting. I remember feeling the magic power in the room increase so drastically that the walls began to shake, small pieces of debris from the collapsed guild hall falling into the basement. A dark energy had encircled Natsu, who was still on his knees in defeat, his head dipped down and tears intermittently falling from his eyes and hitting the ground as he mourned the death of his feline friend. Soon, the energy became so intense that I couldn't see him any longer.

And once the darkness had dissipated, what emerged was not what I recognized as Natsu. Still on its knees as Natsu was prior to the "ritual", what was there in his place was obviously not human. It still had Natsu's recognizable pink hair, but jutting out from the tufts were a pair of thick, yellowish horns. His black vest, and even his scarf, was shredded into pieces as a pair of dark, leathery wings emerged from his back, and adorning his bare chest were several black, scaled stripes.

I would have never thought that that thing could have been Natsu.

Mard Geer beamed at his accomplishment, welcoming back the kneeled demon and calling him "Master". However, as if disregarding his remark completely, seconds' later fire encircled the demon's body and was sent hurdling towards Mard Geer. He was harshly knocked into the wall, a stunned look momentarily appearing on his face before everything went blank as he fell to the floor, dead.

A shocked Jackal released his grip on my hair, letting me fall to my knees on the hard, cement floor as he backed up against the wall. In an instant, the demonic creature that I had once known as Natsu stood up and shot a powerful stream of flame in the furred demon's direction, resulting in him suffering the same fate as Mard Geer had.

It was then that the demon faced me. Its eyes were slitted and yellow, black scales adorning its face in a similar way that they did its chest. Its face was similar in structure to Natsu's, but its expression was intense and demonic, nothing like the cheerful, grinning one that I remembered of my teammate. I was certain that I was next, I would suffer the same fate as the two demons of Tartaros. I was about ready to be killed by a creature that was once my best friend, the person I loved, and I was ready to accept it too. I failed the guild, I failed Happy, and worst of all, I had failed Natsu. I was a wreck. And… I was ready to die. I bowed my head and waited.

That was how I ended up here, collapsed onto my knees on the cold cement floor; helpless and waiting for death.

But it didn't do it. After several moments had passed, I looked up, my eyes meeting those of the demonic creature that resembled my best friend. "N-Natsu…?" I finally choked out.

For a split second, I saw its eyes dilate out, momentarily appearing similar to Natsu's onyx ones, but it quickly passed and they returned to their slitted, demonic appearance. Without saying a word, the creature turned and walked away from me, spreading its wings and rocketing with powerful force through the opening leading out of the basement. In an instant, it was gone.

I sat there, tears falling freely from my eyes as I vaguely took in my surroundings while the ground around me quaked from the battle above. The two deceased demons of Tartaros, a bloodied knapsack that once belonged to Happy, Natsu's shredded scarf… all scattered throughout the room. I failed them, I failed them all. Why didn't it kill me? A large part of me wished that it would have, but it was that action that made me wonder if there was still some of Natsu left in that demonic creature that resembled him.

He was still in there. He had to be. With newfound determination, I stood up and grabbed the tattered and dirtied scarf off of the ground, tucking the scaly, yet soft material into my pocket. I took one last look at the bloodied location where Happy had once stood, wiping my eyes as I once again felt tears welling up at the memory of what had happened and then ran up the stairs of the basement to join the battle above.

I couldn't save Happy, but I could still save Natsu. I _had_ to. I would not die, and I would not let any more of my friends die.

The moment I emerged from the basement, I felt the earth quake with an enormous crash. I stumbled before regaining my balancing, scanning the area for the source. Tears once again threatened to fall from my eyes as I viewed my surroundings. The area was desolate, a mere shadow of the bright, full of life town it once was. There wasn't a single building left standing and rubble littered the streets, the battered and bloodied bodies of the citizens that were caught up in the fight scattered amongst it. But I ignored it, I had to. I had to find Natsu.

I ran towards the location where I had heard the crash, a loud commotion now blatantly within earshot. Emerging over the small mound of debris, I felt my jaw go slack as viewed what was ahead of me. My eyes first landed on the demonic Natsu, or should I say E.N.D., who was facing a silent, yet oddly content looking Zeref. The Dark Wizard Zeref, when had he shown up? But what was most shocking of all was what was behind them: the large, apparently deceased and battered body of Acnologia.

He was dead. But how? We saw what he did on Tenrou Island, it was hard to imagine that he was actually defeated. Yet, it had happened. But who did it?

I observed quietly from a far as Zeref moved his mouth to say something, although I could not hear what it was. In one swift motion, fire brimmed around Natsu and he charged forward, plunging a scaly, clawed hand through the Dark Wizard's chest, emerging bloodied from the other side. A dark wave pulsated from Zeref's body, one that immediately killed the small chunks of vegetation that surrounded them but left Natsu seemingly unaffected. Zeref coughed up a large sum of blood, falling to the ground as Natsu roughly extracted his hand from his body.

No way. Was he dead too? Acnologia and now Zeref? It was a good thing, but how? I've seen first-hand what Arcnologia could do, and while I've only heard stories of the Dark Wizard Zeref, it sounded as though he was an even more dangerous foe than the black dragon. Yet it appeared that Natsu had killed them, both of them, without even breaking a sweat. Was this the true power of E.N.D.? Did Natsu have this locked up in him this entire time?

I swallowed thickly, trying to gather my courage as I felt my legs quake, threatening to give out from under me. I had to be strong, there was still Natsu in there. There had to be. I ran towards the location where Natsu was standing, motionless and face expressionless as he stared down at Zeref's lifeless body.

Before I was able to get close, I felt someone grab my wrist, pulling me back into them. I looked down at the hand to see the familiar Devil-Slayer marks embroidering it. "Wait, Lucy. It's not safe." Gray whispered urgently into my ear. "We don't know who that is, or if he's on our side or not. He came out of nowhere and killed Arcnologia right in front of us." I watched as Gray moved his head to look behind me. "Where's Natsu? I thought he was with you."

I felt myself begin to tremble as I listened to Gray's comments, recalling the events that had occurred a mere hour ago: Happy's death, Natsu's transformation… all of it. I held out a shakey hand, pointing towards the demonic Natsu that was still standing motionless not too far from us. "It's… it's…" I stuttered out, my voice trembling as Gray stared at me intently, waiting for an answer. "H-he's there. That… that _thing_ is… Natsu."

" _What?"_ Gray's face immediately paled, a shocked expression adorning it as he looked from me to Natsu.

Before Gray had a chance to inquire me further about what had happened, a tall female that I recognized as a member of Tartaros emerged from the rubble. She had long, dark hair and horns similar to the demonic Natsu's, but I did not know her name. Slowly, she staggered towards the motionless Natsu, her arm outstretched as if reaching for him. "M-Master E.N.D….?" She quietly questioned.

At this, I felt Gray's grip on my wrist tighten as he began to shake. I hesitantly glanced up at him as he continued to stare at Natsu, his face paled and conflicted with emotions. "E.N.D…" He whispered quietly to himself.

"Master E.N.D.? It is you isn't it….?" The dark haired demon again questioned. "Where is Mard Geer?"

Natsu turned to face the female demon, taking a step towards her and acting as though he might actually speak to her for a moment, but that was short lived. We could only watch as he suddenly flared out his wings, fire once again engulfing his body as he sent a ball of flame hurtling towards her. She made no motion to move, merely standing there in shock as the fire made contact with her. I covered my ears and clenched my eyes shut, shuddering as I heard her scream in pain as the flames engulfed her body, eventually going silent and falling to the ground with an audible 'thud'.

I felt tears well up in my eyes, threatening to spill out. These people Natsu had killed, they were our enemies; they were demons, they were evil. I tried to tell myself that they _deserved_ to die, but I couldn't stomach the fact that I had watched this thing that was controlling Natsu kill _five_ living beings in the span of an hour. He did so without remorse, or even a second thought. Even people that were supposed to be his comrades in his demon form, he had killed. The very thought made me ill. The real Natsu would never do that.

And yet, I still knew that there has to be _something_ of Natsu still in there. There has to be, or else I would have become his sixth victim today. I just had to reach him…

Just as I began to move towards him once again, I realized that Gray was no longer behind me. I frantically scanned the desolate area attempting to locate him, and then – "Ice Devil's Rage!"

I quickly turned around, feeling my heart drop in fear as I watched Gray shoot a beam of ice from his mouth towards Natsu. "No! Gray! Stop!" I shrieked. Even with Natsu being what he is now, I couldn't watch my two teammates kill each other. I can still save Natsu, I need Gray to realize that.

I watched as Natsu exhaled a large stream of fire from his own mouth, one that was far larger and more powerful than his traditional Fire Dragon's Roar spell, easily countering Gray's ice spell. He flared out his wings and rocketed into the air, flames engulfing his fists as he conjured and fireball and sent it hurdling towards Gray.

Gray quickly dodged it, the explosion of the flames just barely grazing the side of his face and leaving a visible burn mark. "If there is any of you left in there Natsu, I'm sorry!" He shouted, his voice cracking slightly and hands visibly shaking as he moved to conjure up another ice spell. "But I swore to my father that I would defeat E.N.D.!"

Natsu said nothing, simply staring at Gray with the same flat, emotionless expression he had been wearing this whole time, pausing for a moment before diving towards Gray with incredible speed, his body brimming with fire. "Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow!" Gray chanted, sending a large, icy arrow flying towards Natsu.

Natsu attempted to dodge it but wasn't completely successful, the icy arrow piercing the leather of one of his wings, exploding and freezing the length of it. I felt my heartrate increase tenfold, worry welling up inside of me as I watched him crash down to the ground, Gray's spell apparently inhibiting his ability to fly. I don't want him to die, I don't want either of them to die. I watched Happy die right before my eyes… I didn't want to see any more of my friends get hurt, but what can I do? I'm almost out of magic power, and I can't intervene without getting myself killed. But I can't stand sitting here and doing nothing. I felt my knees go week, collapsing to the ground and sobbing quietly to myself. My fault, this was my fault. If only I could have protected Natsu from this like I swore I would, like he had protected me so many times before.

"Gray! Watch out!" I yelled as I watched Natsu emerge from the smoke created by the crash, rushing towards Gray and punching him hard in the gut before he even had a chance to react.

The action sent Gray flying back into the debris from a collapsed house, seemingly knocking him unconscious. Natsu folded in his good wing, his injured one hanging limp and dragging on the ground from the effects of Gray's spell. He stared at Gray for a few moments, his expression was intense but his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he was confused. Then, he began to move towards him, fire engulfing his fists as he prepared an attack. An attack that appeared very unlikely Gray would survive.

No… He can't… I can't let him. "Natsu! Please stop! That's your friend!" I screamed.

I felt my breath hitch in my throat as Natsu stopped in his tracks, the fire encircling his fists dissipating as he turned to face me. He simply stared at me wordlessly, his expression intense and thoroughly intimidating as a result of the demonic features.

I thought I had reached him, but I felt my face pale, fear welling up inside of me as fire once again encircled him, this time directed towards me. "Natsu…" I choked out, tears continuing to fall from my eyes. I was helpless, I couldn't do anything. He was going to kill me, and then he was going to kill my friends.

However, before he could make his attack, a bolt of lightning emerged from the sky and made contact with him. Wiping my eyes, I immediately looked around for the source of it, my eyes eventually landing on a familiar blonde-haired man. "Laxus?" I croaked out.

I watched as Laxus once again sent a bolt of lightning towards Natsu, who barely flinched in response, seemingly unaffected by the attack. He turned and immediately sent a stream of fire towards Laxus, who countered with his own lightening breath, the rest of the Thunder God Tribe appearing from behind him and casting their own spells to help push back Natsu's attack, resulting in an explosion as the power of the combined magic, and presumably demonic curses, became overwhelming.

"You little brat." Laxus scoffed, curling up his lip at Natsu. "Alright, Thunder God Tribe! We are looking to just subdue him if we can, not kill! Let's go!"

"Right!" The members of his team shouted in unison.

I watched as Laxus's team expertly circled Natsu, attacking him from all angles in attempt to overwhelm him. I didn't want any more fighting, I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, but I knew that Laxus's team was strong, if they could just apprehend him then maybe we could save him…

"Lucy." I heard the sounds of footsteps beside me, looking up to make eye contact with a battle worn Erza. "You should leave, we will handle this." And with that, I watched her requip into her Flame Empress Armor and move to join the fray.

But I couldn't just leave, not when my friends were here, fighting and risking their lives for _my_ mistake. I was supposed to protect Natsu and I had failed, and this was the result.

The amount of magic produced from the brawl was overwhelming, and created so much smoke that I could barely see what was going on, only the frequent flashing of magic that enabled me to determine _who_ was attacking. There was so much lightening being produced from Laxus that for a moment, I found myself actually worrying for Natsu's safety, even if I did _want_ them to succeed against him.

However, that thought was quickly dashed as I saw an immense amount of fire encircle the area and explode with so much force that it nearly knocked me over. I gasped, feeling my heart sink as I saw Erza thrown past me and into the partially destroyed stone wall of the town. "Erza!" I screeched, rushing towards her. She wasn't moving…

However, when I got a closer look I realized that she was still breathing, her body shifting slightly in its unconscious state as I touched her arm. Thank Mavis… she's alive. The Thunder God Tribe however, was nowhere in sight.

I jumped when I heard the sound of audible footsteps coming closer to us, quickly standing and turning to face the source. I felt fear once again build up inside of me as I saw Natsu emerge from the smoke, his eyes fixed on Erza as though he had every intention of finishing her off. No… I can't let that happen…

Swallowing my fear and mustering every amount of courage I had, I ran towards him, stopping a mere ten feet in front of him and blocking his pathway to Erza. "No! I won't let you do this! If you want to kill her, you'll have to kill me first!" I shouted, my voice cracking slightly as tears once again threatened to fall from my eyes.

I gasped as I saw Natsu's expression darken, his slitted eyes narrowing and fire slowly welling up around his fists. Was this how I die? At the hands of my best friend? Or should I say, what was _once_ my best friend… "Please Natsu!" I loudly sobbed. "I know there's still some of you left in there! I want… I want my best friend back. Please…" I clenched my eyes shut. "I… I… love you." I quietly admitted.

I kept my eyes shut, standing my ground stiffly as I awaited what was to come. To die at the hands of my best friend, the person I loved, is never what I would have wanted, but to die protecting my friends is the best possible way to die. I suppose the two equal each other out. I stood there and waited, staring death in the face, but it never came. Instead, I felt a pair of scaly hands ghost over my skin and encircle around my back, my skin prickling at the contact.

I gasped out in shock as I was softly, yet suddenly jerked inward, colliding with Natsu's slightly scaled, bare chest, his hands wrapped tightly around my back and tangling in my hair. "Lucy…" I jumped slightly when I heard him croak out my name. Hesitantly, I peeked my eyes open, meeting his eyes only to see that his soft, recognizable onyx ones were now there in place of the slitted demonic ones that I had previously been there. "I'm sorry…"

Simply stood there, my face lightly flushed at the intimacy of the encounter as he buried his face in the crook of my neck and began to cry softly, his single uninjured wing extended out and curling around us, creating a small shadow. I could feel the hotness of his breath on my neck. "I couldn't control what I was doing…" He sobbed, his voice muffled and cracking. "I tried… I tried to kill you, to kill my friends… I couldn't…" I heard him choke as he sobbed. "...I couldn't save Happy… Not even with this power hiding inside of me… I'm sorry, I failed… I wasn't strong enough…"

I found myself sobbing with him, returning the embrace and wrapping my hands tightly around his back, one of them finding its way to his head and curiously running up the length of one of his horns. They were oddly smooth feeling. This… this was Natsu. I felt his grip around me tighten, the blackened talons that were now in the place of his finger nails digging into my backside almost painfully, but I didn't mind… all that mattered was that we were safe now. He was safe.

"Lucy! Move!"

I was suddenly jarred back to reality by Gray's urgent voice, a sharp pain shooting through my abdomen moments later. I felt Natsu jerk forward, emitting a quiet, pained grunt as his grip around my back tightened. I looked down, letting out a horrified gasp as I saw a large, icy protrusion extending through the center of Natsu's abdomen and poking part way into the side of my own, narrowly missing my vitals.

I inched away from him, wincing as the small, sharp end was removed from my body, resulting in blood beginning to flow freely from the wound. Moments later, I felt Natsu begin to drop to his knees, his weight pulling me down with him as he continued to grasp onto my shoulders. I watched, horrified, as he coughed up several specks of blood, the thick red liquid dripping down the sides of his mouth and onto my chest, his eyes quickly growing dull. "N-Natsu…?" I choked out.

"Lucy!" I once again heard Gray shout at me, the sounds of his frantic footsteps edging nearer. "Get away from him!"

I turned my head towards Gray, feeling my expression darken as I glared at him, continuing to hold onto Natsu. "Stay away!" I growled out, causing him to stop in his tracks and stare at us in confusion. I focused my attention back on Natsu, roughly shaking his shoulders as I watched him continue to fade away. "Natsu! Natsu! Please! Stay with me!" I frantically shrieked at him, the feeling of dread growing stronger within me. He was dying… and there was nothing I could do. "Melt it with your fire! Cauterize the wound! Something!"

"He can't." I jerked my head to look back towards Gray, who was standing a careful distance away from us, arms folded over his bare chest and a look of indifference on his face. He hardly even seemed to care, and it made me angry. "A flame demon cannot melt Ice Devil Slayer magic, it's designed specifically counter them. To counter E.N.D." I could have sworn I saw a look of regret, of sadness flash across Gray's face momentarily before he continued in a quieter tone. "I'm sorry. I swore to my father that I would defeat E.N.D., and I don't regret it. I never would have guessed it would have been Natsu though… Lucy… you should get away from him, he's dangerous and you're injured."

"No!" I shouted in defiance, my grip on Natsu tightening as I felt him further sink towards the ground. "There has to be something we can do! Wendy! Porlyuscia?! Where are you?!"

"L-Lucy…" I quickly moved to look at Natsu when I heard him choke out my name, his voice strained and quiet. "He's… he's right… I deserve this… He finished what Igneel couldn't…" I watched him look down towards my abdomen, a look of concern suddenly appearing on his face. I had nearly forgotten about my injuries until just now… Hesitantly, he moved a scaled hand downward to press on my openly bleeding wound, blood trickling out between his fingers. I winced slightly at the pain. "You're hurt…"

"Don't worry about me! Worry about yourself you idiot!" I openly sobbed, tears freely falling from my face and soaking the fabric on my shirt. That's just like Natsu, to show concern for others even when he's direly injured.

"It's okay…" He smiled faintly at me, a pair of sharp fangs clearly evident amongst his row of teeth. Moving his hand up to carefully pet my hair, he leaned forward, gently bumping his forehead against mine. "I'll get to be with Happy, to see Igneel again…" He paused for a moment, tightly clutching my hair with his hand before whispering quietly enough so that only I could hear it. "I'll miss you though, I always… I always loved you."

I choked on my tears at his confession, I realized that I was in love with him not too long ago, but I never knew he felt the same… and now, it was all pointless. Never in my life had I felt so helpless. "Natsu!" I gasped as I felt his body grow limp in my arms, the last bit of light in his eyes fading as he slipped from my grasp, falling to his side and hitting the ground with an audible thump.

I felt my own body grow weak, shaking violently as I reached for Natsu's unmoving body. He wasn't breathing… "No…" I sobbed wistfully. I vaguely heard footsteps draw nearer to me, but I didn't care, I didn't even look up

"Lucy." I felt Gray's hand clasp on my shoulder. "Please, we need to get your wound taken care of."

"Keep away from me you murderer!" I shouted at him, roughly slapping his hand away.

He looked taken aback, staring at me with a shocked expression, but I didn't care. That was the man that killed Natsu. I heard the wind howl loudly around us as I reached out a trembling hand, resting it on Natsu's cheek, sobbing at how cold it felt. Moving my hand up his motionless face, I pushed several dangling tufts of pink hair back and leaned down to place a light kiss on his partly scaled forehead. "I love you too…" I whispered shakily into his ear, tears still wracking my body.

Natsu... Natsu is gone... The person I love is gone... I've seen Natsu survive so many things, I've seen him brought to the brink of death only to get back up and beat his opponent into the ground. I always had faith in him, I always had faith that he would survive and _win_ no matter what he did. Yet, in the blink of an eye, he was gone... and I would never see him again. I was filled with so many emotions... sadness, anger, regret... I wish that I had not taken his presence for granted as I had so many times before, I wish I had been nicer to him when he tried to spend time near me, I wish I had not waited so long to confess my feelings for him... I wish... I wish I could see him again, so I could change those things... But now it was just that: a hopeless wish, a dream... one that would never come true...

I thumbed the scaly scarf that was now hanging from my pocket, having nearly forgotten it was there. The scarf that was oh so precious to Natsu, a gift from his father. I never did get the chance to return it to him… Carefully but with shaky hands, I laid the tattered material so that it draped over his face, covering his lifeless eyes. I couldn't save him, my efforts were in vain. I couldn't save the man I loved. The city around me stood in ruins, and my guild mates, my friends, were injured. _I_ was injured.

What I wouldn't give to see his cheerful smile again… for everything to go back to normal.

The world had gone to Hell, but I was determined, I would live on. I would ensure that people remembered him for all the good he did in his life, everything that he did – his sacrifices, all to help others. I would ensure that no one smeared his name with this small moment of weakness, one that was out of his control.

Yes, I would live on. I know that's what he would have wanted.

…

 _END_

A/N: Yeah, I know I left the whole Gray thing and destruction of the town/injuries of the guild members thing hanging. I could have added more about that, but honestly, it just cuts the flow of the NaLu/E.N.D. stuff so I left it out. I'm no expert at writing tragedies, but I hope you guys enjoyed regardless.


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